My two oldest daughters (in their teens) and I have a problem that we jokingly call “Stuck in the Position.” We are sleeping, or just dozing off and we suddenly find ourselves in a very uncomfortable position. We struggle to move anything on our bodies, a finger or even an eyelid, but we can’t. I start to panic and breath hard; I am not sure if the girls experience this. If we can move anything, the paralysis is broken and we can move again. We are able to laugh when we talk about it later, but it certainly isn’t funny at the time. Sometimes we are fearful of falling asleep again, knowing it may recur. This has been happening to me since my late teens. I am now 45. I think I can associate it with too much caffeine during the day and so do my daughters. I was recently diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and have been taking Luvox. I have had very few occurrences while on this medication. Luvox is a serotonin re-uptake inhibitor, could there be a connection?
— Maria, Age 45, Wenatchee, WA, USA
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